Translucent Glitter is Mer-maid for YOU

See through sea shells secured on the surface of a picnic blanket. Say that one 10 times fast… or don’t ;) It’s much simpler to keep reading for today’s custom craft.

Start by gathering your materials:

When you’ve got everything you need, design and cut out your artwork. I used a seashell shape I had saved from a previous project. To punch out the letters inside the shape like I did, type out your text and ungroup the letters. Align one on each shape. Then select all the objects and Make Compound Path.

text on objects in Silhouette Studio Making a compound path in Silhouette Studio

I repeated the same steps to make a monogram shell as well. Notice how the text appears backwards? Since we’re cutting HTV, it’s important to always mirror (or flip horizontally) the image. With the final step in designing complete, place the HTV shiny side down on the cutting mat or load the media directly into the machine and send to cut. Our suggested settings for Glitter can be found on our site or the Siser App. Just remember that the age of your blade will influence your settings, so you may have to make adjustments.

When the cutter is done, unload the material and roll the HTV to reveal the cut lines. This also shows you where to trim away the design from the unused heat transfer vinyl.

Mirror image or flip horizontally to prepare the cut file for HTV

roll Glitter heat transfer vinyl to see the cut lines better

Continue rolling Glitter HTV to find the cut lines and use your Siser Weeder to remove the inner excess.

Pinch and roll Glitter HTV to reveal cut lines for weeding Remove excess HTV with the Siser Weeder

For my seashell name, I want the colors to alternate, but I don’t want to have to individually line up 4 transfers. So I cut my name out of both colors and used Glitter’s sticky carrier to my advantage. I simply peeled up the letters and swapped the colors. It was easy to re-stick the Glitter HTV since the cut lines on the carrier acted as guides for placement. Visible cut lines are a sign of a good cut. Click here for more ways to identify good and bad cut settings.

Use Glitter's sticky carrier to peel and swap colors of HTV

When you’re ready to heat apply, set your iron to Cotton, or your heat press to 320°F. Make sure to adjust your blanket so that you’re pressing on a flat, even surface. This will help you get the necessary proper pressure. In my case, I detached the top flap from the rest of the blanket so I could concentrate the heat and pressure on that area.

place the sticky side of the carrier down for heat application

Don’t mind my monogram test presses on the purple. It’s important to test apply a bit of HTV on materials you think might be heat sensitive. 

To protect the iron plate and fabric, place a heat transfer cover sheet on top of the application area before pressing down firmly. While a solid wood table or floor is usually a good surface to press on, they can still be damaged from the heat. If you want to protect your surface I suggest pressing on a wooden cutting board, ceramic tile, or a solid piece of cork board like I did.

iron on translucent glitter heat transfer vinyl

iron on HTV with a cork board underneath for heat protection

Press until the entire design has had about 15 seconds of heat. Remove the cover sheet and carefully peel back the carrier. If any HTV isn’t stuck down, lay the carrier back down and apply 5 more seconds of heat.

peel glitter's carrier while it's warm

*Be careful when pressing near velcro! I got a little too close with my iron which resulted in some puckering, but I caught on early enough to prevent any real damage.

See how the color of the fabric changes the appearance of translucent pink and orange Glitter?

the multicolored fabric changes the appearance of translucent glitter HTV

I added my monogram seashells to the corners of the picnic blanket, and look how different the translucent colors appear on purple!

pink and orange translucent glitter HTV look different on purple

Translucent pink and orange are fun colors with even more possibilities than other Glitters due to their color changing abilities. Did I mention you can even sublimate on these colors?! Just be aware that the fabric color, HTV color, and sublimation inks will all contribute to the final hues. Consider these factors if you’re trying to produce a certain color.

Did you enjoy this colorful tutorial? Pin this image for crafting later!

See through Glitter HTV offers extra colors and double the fun! See how fabric colors affect translucent Glitter HTV on this DIY mermaid picnic blanket.

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